Shenmue IV Will Happen - Here's Why!

I think that what Shenmue 4 needs is a comprehensible budget.
We need to be realistic; the Shenmue series is never going to have a triple AAA budget ever again.
I believe that our best chance is for Yu Suzuki and his team to use the assets that they have made in Shenmue 3 and some new ones for the fourth game.
The rest of the budget that they can acquire should be used to improve the gameplay; for cutscenes and the overhaul story arch.
 
If they pull this off right, Shenmue 4 and 5 are definitely going to be secured and will have the budget they deserve but for that to happen, it needs to do for the game what Demon Slayer's anime adaptation did for the manga which might be a tall order, but not impossible.
 
If they want to secure a $30m+ budget, it’s going to have to be one hell of an anime. For perspective, Sega only gave Yakuza 7 a $21m budget.

really ?
I am suprise yakuza 7 have only 21 millions of budgets.
but if it is the case congrat to the team to make the game with this budget :)
 
The Dragon Engine has been in existence for 4 years and they've had plenty of time to become efficient with it, not to mention the crap-ton of reused assets.

RGG games are done for significantly-cheaper than their quality ;)
 
really ?
I am suprise yakuza 7 have only 21 millions of budgets.
but if it is the case congrat to the team to make the game with this budget :)
Pipeline of yakuza development is super streamlined, they have the tools to make Yakuza games matured by this point, a huge library of code, assets and animations and a team that are experts on creating Yakuza games with those tools that reduces cost compared to what we have in Shenmue 3 that almost everything had to be built from zero.
 
In my opinion, it doesn't need a much higher budget. The biggest flaws of 3, the stamina meter, the new battle system, emphasis on the wrong characters, those flaws don't have to do with the low budget.

Although I'm not a 3 hater.
I tend to agree with this line of thinking. Obviously a bigger budget will result in a better game, but the budget needs to be balanced with realistic expectations in terms of how well the game will sell.

Perhaps if the anime becomes hugely popular and sales of the previous entries see an increase that might serve as an indication that a quality fourth game would sell well - but even if the anime is successful, I don’t think there’s any guarantee that all those viewers will translate to new players.
 
I agree, for me Shenmue 3 didn't lack budget, although i wouldn't be against a big budget game :)

I really enjoy Shenmue 3, I like sthe stamina system and the battle system (I put Shenmue 3 just behind the first two games)
For me it only lack some character developement for the secondary characters
 
I don't know if the Anime being successful would really bring in that many new customers for the games.

I think a successful Anime brings us the opportunity to conclude the story as an Anime, which is better than no conclusion or more badly-written games.
 
In my opinion, it doesn't need a much higher budget. The biggest flaws of 3, the stamina meter, the new battle system, emphasis on the wrong characters, those flaws don't have to do with the low budget.

Although I'm not a 3 hater.

The overdose of jokes too. While S1 was a bit too serious, S2 had the very right balance of humor.

I hope Suzuki will not be too permissive this time, both with S4 and the anime as producer.
 
The overdose of jokes too. While S1 was a bit too serious, S2 had the very right balance of humor.

I hope Suzuki will not be too permissive this time, both with S4 and the anime as producer.
I didn’t necessarily have a problem with the jokes in S3, I just didn’t find them to be particularly funny...
 
If Sega is directly involved in this animation series, it means they've begun to realize the potential again.

If it all culminates in a collaborative effort(Shibuya, Sega, maybe Sony as they hold console exclusivity ) to give Shenmue IV the treatment it needs, I'm good with this.

If we get V even better, but if IV is the grand finale with production values, so be it also.
 
If we get V even better, but if IV is the grand finale with production values, so be it also.
I think this line of discussion raises an interesting question...

Would fans rather we got two more games with the graphical fidelity of S3 but with better writing and a fully fleshed out story that’s close to Yu’s original vision, one high budget game that rushes the story to wrap it up in a single game or a high quality Shenmue 4 that doesn’t complete the story and may or may not lead to a Shenmue 5?
 
I think this line of discussion raises an interesting question...

Would fans rather we got two more games with the graphical fidelity of S3 but with better writing and a fully fleshed out story that’s close to Yu’s original vision, one high budget game that rushes the story to wrap it up in a single game or a high quality Shenmue 4 that doesn’t complete the story and may or may not lead to a Shenmue 5?
Why do you ask such difficult questions 😂😂

I'd go option one. Improve the fighting, hammer the story telling, graphics don't need to be next gen to tell a story.

I'd then have option 3, if possible.

Rushing it doesn't work for me personally.
 
I think this line of discussion raises an interesting question...

Would fans rather we got two more games with the graphical fidelity of S3 but with better writing and a fully fleshed out story that’s close to Yu’s original vision, one high budget game that rushes the story to wrap it up in a single game or a high quality Shenmue 4 that doesn’t complete the story and may or may not lead to a Shenmue 5?
Personally I want Shenmue 4 to have a similar budget to 3, so it will more likely get made. The first half can tie up the Sun/CYM arc, and 'the calamity of the treasure' destroys them, and the second half ties up the more personal conflict with Ryo and Lan Di, At the end, they put the mirrors back in the cliff temple which puts to rest whatever the calamity is. I don't think it has to be rushed, just not the original ending.

I think a reboot could focus on being more mainstream, a bigger budget, more freedom for reinvention, but I think the priority should be to ensure the original saga gets a decent ending.
 
I think this line of discussion raises an interesting question...

Would fans rather we got two more games with the graphical fidelity of S3 but with better writing and a fully fleshed out story that’s close to Yu’s original vision, one high budget game that rushes the story to wrap it up in a single game or a high quality Shenmue 4 that doesn’t complete the story and may or may not lead to a Shenmue 5?

Such a difficult question and it's hard to know what's best... I think I would have to go for 2 or 3 though.
 
I think this line of discussion raises an interesting question...

Would fans rather we got two more games with the graphical fidelity of S3 but with better writing and a fully fleshed-out story that’s close to Yu’s original vision, one high budget game that rushes the story to wrap it up in a single game or a high-quality Shenmue 4 that doesn’t complete the story and may or may not lead to a Shenmue 5?

I feel like Icarus when answering this question because I would go with a high-quality Shenmue IV that didn't complete the story. The first reason is that I want the story to unveil naturally and in its totality. One of the reasons why I love Shenmue's story (especially Shenmue Chapter One: Yokosuka) is due to its deliberate pacing because of the payoff. Also, it simply feels more fulfilling overall, so rushing the pacing would be a mistake.

As shallow as this is to say, I feel that visuals are apart of the Shenmue experience. I mean one of the reasons I was so captivated by the first game back in 1999 was because of how utterly beautiful it was. Shenmue to me is just as much a cinematic experience as it is a game.

Finally, Shenmue and Yu Suzuki serve as ambitious trailblazers that inspire other creators. To do that, you need to be bold and not always play it safe. If anything, that's a huge problem with gaming today. So that's why I would take the risk on a high-quality Shenmue IV that doesn't conclude the narrative.
 
If the @mods already know about Shenmue 4 greenlight or something, I can imagine how hard can be to keep this a secret.
 
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